We Have a Floor

My bedroom floor is finished and I thought I would get to move back in this weekend, but have to wait for husband to install the quarter round trim.  Our bed is stuffed into the tiny study along with the saw  and the air compressor, dressers are in the narrow hallway and closet items are strewn about the tiny guest room--I am so tired of chaos!  Well, here is the pretty floor..

What is With the Damn Ironstone Pitchers?

I've had several good news things come my way today, only to be side swiped with another debacle about an ironstone pitcher.  I sold a truly beautiful pitcher with a tin repair that I honestly wanted to keep for myself.  Some know-it-all jerk kept emailing me that it is a syrup pitcher missing its lid, not a repair.  I ignored them, because syrup pitchers cost at least $200, so even it that is true, I am selling the pitcher at a very good price.  I sell it, they ask to return because it is a syrup pitcher.  I KNOW they have to have something to do with the know-it-all jerk.  The person who bought it had to know this all ahead of time, my photos are excellent.  Oh, I could scream with frustration!

Well, it is just going to be mine now and in the meantime, I hope the ironstone gods get over their hissy fit.

A New Day

It looks like the dark cloud that has been hovering over me for two months has been dispersed.  My pessimistic nature is screaming "Be quiet!  Don't let the fates notice that things are ok--they'll zap you again for sure!"  My optimistic side is saying "Oh, hush."

On the overseas pitcher debacle, case was opened, and of course eBay sided with the customer and gave her my money.  A mere 3 days of phone calls and complaints from me and I am astonished to say they put the money back in my paypal account.  I am counting that an out and out miracle--I never win these things.

In remodeling news, Grace is varnishing her newly painted floor.  I  will get a photo when it is all dry.  As soon as she gets moved back in, it is back to the master bedroom, just varnish the floor, touch up the paint and unroll a pretty rug and put up gauzy curtains.  I am getting enthused again.  I may even tackle the laundry room next--it is currently a dumping ground for shipping boxes and merchandise overflow (not to mention, I have all the paint cans and brushes in there).

In weather news, it snowed this weekend, and is supposed to do so again tomorrow.  When did the new ice age start anyway?

Oh, I found out Instagram is only for people with smartphones, it doesn't work on a computer!  I also found out it is now owned by facebook, so definitely not going that route.  I am still working on a website, not sure if I will be able to get that finished, and still wondering how I will get anyone to know the website exists even after I have it up.  If only anything were easy...

Here are the latest listings to do:

It is Bread Board a Palooza

I went to the Collector's Eye antique show last weekend and came away with bread boards and more bread boards.  Some are good as is, some needed a calico dress and some await painting--here are the things I have ready to list now.

In other news, we have real spring weather today, but they say snow is going to be back in a few days.  My entire family (sisters, children, everyone) has had a crisis of some sort or another this week, so stress levels remain high.  In addition,  I had to delete my facebook page and all my kids' pages because of a creepy stalker.  We all have our pepper spray at the ready and are pretty freaked out.  I think I'll do Instagram for my shop and maybe think about a website--just not sure how to do that, so it may take a while.

As for the upstairs remodel, I've switched from working on the master bedroom to my daughter's room.  We are going to paint her floor, so it is a little easier.  Once she is done, my floor gets varnish, a new rug and a real head board!  Looking forward to a happy change.

Why Does it Always Have to Get Worse Before It Gets Better?

It is going to get better, isn't it?  I am certainly having my doubts these days.  Every thing seems to be going steadily downhill ever since we all got the flu.  It appears that winter is never going to end--it has been two weeks of temperatures 20 degrees below normal, all with lots of high wind and gloom to make it even more miserable.  I thought rolling up my sleeves and working on my upstairs disaster area would be a positive move, but the two weeks it took to strip one floor just has me defeated (I still have a long hallway and four more rooms that need to have the floors refinished).  Sales have come to a truly screeching halt, and I don't know why that is always coupled with getting the most annoying messages from non-customers and infuriating complaints about the one thing I did sell.  All month, I have had people sending me messages asking me to measure something crazy like "what is the exact thickness of that wire handle?"--and never, not even once, have I sold the item they want the weird measurement for.  Why do they ask?  They obviously do not want to purchase--why, why, why?  The other thing that has come up is about my free shipping listings.   I have had to just add the shipping cost into breakable items after the post office broke 4 crocks in a row and told me the insurance only covered what I charged for the item, not the cost of the shipping (as though that wasn't part of the cost of the item).  So, first question I get is "If you are including the cost of shipping in the price, then it is not free shipping is it?"  Talk about nitpicking!  Well, no, until the postal service doesn't charge me, then it is not free.  Even if they didn't charge, well someone would have to pay, taxpayers, for instance.  In the meantime, I am not charging you extra for shipping, it is all one price, what is the problem?  So, next, someone buys a pitcher.  They are overseas.  They pay for the pitcher, which is free shipping domestically.  The global shipping program charges them the cost of getting it to their country--they know this, they pay it and say nothing until I ship the pitcher, then demand I refund the shipping money they paid to the global program (which is more than the cost of the pitcher).  They are going to open a case against me as soon as they get the item.  That one had me shaking, I was so mad.  So, there, I am just a bundle of sunshine, aren't I?  Let's hope this is the catharsis to turn the corner to sunny days ahead.

Here is a Pinterest photo to take my mind off my petty troubles.

The Usual Spring Sales Slump

I think spring is the worst season in the antique trade, at least for me.  It is still cold and horrible out there, so it can't be everyone off smelling the tulips, but people do seem to ditch the internet this time of year.

In the meantime,  I'm still stripping my bedroom floor.  I think I have about 2 hours of work left to do before the sanding, staining, varnishing stage.  I am very tired.

I put together a few more blues this weekend, planning on listing them and not selling them again.  Heavy sigh.  Maybe it is the stripper fumes getting to me.